hello everyone!
so weve have been here a week so far and loving every minute of it!
flew to bangkok and the flight actually wasnt too bad! met up with the group and went for yummy thai curry! theres 16 of us inc the tour leader.

official day one we head for the thai/cambodian border and then to the city of siem reap. we went for dinner and then had an earlyish night at day two we hadto leave at 5am to head for angkor wat at sunrise. this is worlds largest temple, even though it was cloudy and didnt see sunrise, it was still amzing! got some great pics! then we saw wat thom (the old city) and na promn (temple which was shown in tomb raider film, with trees growing thorugh building!) .... all stunning and fab carvings etc. we then went for a japenese massage at a place called seeing hands which is done by blind local people... it was a mixture of pain and pleasure but came away feeling great! :) later that evening we went for food and saw some traditional cambodian dancing! then for the first night on the town we went to a bar calles angkor what? bar ..... full of travellers, good music and plenty of jageirbombs down our necks!!! danced away til 2am! that day we were up almost 24 hrs lol.

day three we had 12pm pick up to head to next place, but managed to drag oursleves out of bed for some last minute market shopping! and we got to say goodbye to our cambodian mum... who was local shop lady who wanted to adopt caz haha. it was in siem reap i had my first tuck tuck ride, tried my first khmer (cambodian) curry and amok and decided that i love the cambodian people! so on to phnom penh, the capital city! we got there early evening and head out for food at a local khmer family home! we paid 6 dollar for an amzing traditional feast and it was yum! we all had to sit on the floor in a big room. it was here that i first tried rice wine, yuk very strong! it was then that the host bought put the tanrantula wine!!! they make it with 30-40 spiders in a tub, he showed us a tub he was making! i mustered the courage to try it, it was still gross but actually tasted better than the normal stuff!..... he then got a wet tarantula out of the tub and i held it! shock horror! i was petrified, but do have photographic evidence, so when i upload them u can see! :) the money that we paid goes toward the local school for the children in the street, and we got to meet them and chat to them for a bit before the meal!

day four we took in the sites of the city! we took a guided tour of the tuol sleng prison/museum and the killing fields! it was here i learnt the sad history of cambodia from the rule of poi pet,and it really was a heavy morning!!!... but glad that we did it! after lunch by the river we headed to the central market for a spot of bartering! and then to the royal palace to look at the silver pagoda and emerald buddha etc! stunning buildings and jewels etc!

day five travelled to the coastline and city of sihanoukville! beach at last haha, and after all the wierd weather and thunderstorms we finally had hot day woohoo! spent the afternoon on the beach, though didnt get any peace as local children and women wanted to sell us bracelets and give us beauty treatments..... so who could resist that.... i had manicure and pedicure while i lay on beach for only 3 dollars!!! that night we headed down to beach for bbq and had some great seafood (squid and barracuda!) then to a beach bar called dolphin... where it was free drinks for ladies, though the alcohol percentage in the vodka was debateable lol. had a wicked night with the group though and danced on the beach! then me and caz danced on beach in rain when we had a quick rainstorm! and also danced with local women trying to keep a can on my head... and failed miserably ha.

day six me and jackie went to ream national park, while anna and caz went snorkelling. had great day on boat and fab white beach, trekked through some forest and local village, got to see fisherman lifestyle, water buffalo, etc thn lunch on hut on water. we were meant to be on the look out for monkeys but saw none... on the way backl the driver took us to a temple in hills called wat leo where there were loads of monkeys in trees, we got some fruit out and they were all around us, loads of little baby ones!! gutted that my camera died that day but jackie got lots of pics for me to steal! :) we got bk to hotel at half3 and when down to catch some more sun while we still could! so happy that i finally have tanlines... feels like im really on hol now haha. headed for meal not far from hotel and tried some japanese food which was good! early-ish night for me after choking/burning my throat on a flaming shot with a straw, never again!!!... it was only my second drink and it cut my night short, though the girls were only out til half 12 so didnt miss too much! typical!

day 7 head off with an early start for vietnam! currently in chau doc... slept for couple of hrs when got to hotel as had very bumpy bus ride and long day! then just been for some vietnamese food! tomorrow will be long day as we are driving 8 hrs to saigon, the capital city!

so im still alive and well! loving it all so far! getting used to holes in the floor as toilets (taking tissues and alcohol gel everywhere), showers with no shower curtains (soaking the whole bathroom)!!! managing ok to unpack and pack all the time, but not got too many souveneirs yet so when i do that will be interesting! its a job and half already with my backpack and rucksack in this heat!
all intentions of losing weight seem to be out the question with all this yummy spicy food! :) though im hoping the amount of sweating im doing will help! haha. though i have been lucky so far and not had a dicky tummy, touch wood! (i have got guts of steel though)
i loved the cambodian people and culture and looking forward to my experiences in vietnam... first impressions are that it is way busier here! roads are crazy, same as cambodia...no set road rules it quite bizarre..getting used to having to just walk out in middle of busy road and knowing/hoping that the millions of scooters will go around you, and so far so good!

anyway, my first blog has been a big ramble! i will try and update it more often from now, and get some pics on asap for you too!!

lots of love Linz xxx